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Closer Look Heat's Hardaway has fallen on hard times
Posted: Sunday May 14, 2000 08:57 PM
By Marty Burns, Sports Illustrated NEW YORK -- Heat point guard Tim Hardaway saw it coming, but he couldn't stop it. He was pushing the ball across half court in the third quarter of his team's Eastern Conference semifinal Game 4 at New York Sunday when Knicks guard Charlie Ward suddenly stabbed at the ball and knocked it free. His feet seemingly nailed to the floor, Hardaway barely moved as Ward collected the ball and set off on a Knicks fast break and another easy basket en route to a 91-83 victory and a 2-2 tie in their best-of-seven series. For Hardaway, it was just another embarrassing moment in what's fast becoming a nightmare. Hampered by a sprained left foot, the five-time All-Star has become a non-factor in the series, averaging just 6.2 points (on 26.6-percent shooting) and 4.5 assists through the first four games. "Am I hurting the team?" a visibly disappointed Hardaway asked Sunday after spending the entire fourth quarter on the bench for the second straight game. "I don't know. I'm going to talk to Coach [Pat Riley] about that. We'll see." Much like in last year's playoff loss to the Knicks, when sore knees hampered him, Hardaway has been a shell of himself. Although he has gamely tried to play through his nagging injury, he can't explode to the hole or get any lift on his jump shot. With no legs, and New York defenders creeping up on him, he's managed to hit just 8-of-30 shots in the series, including four-of-17 (23.5 percent) from 3-point range. In the past two games in Madison Square Garden, he missed all five of his shots from beyond the arc. Defensively he has let Ward blow past him on several occasions and has been sllowed to rotate and rebound. As a result, rookie Anthony Carter has moved into Hardaway's spot at crunch time and performed ably. Though he lacks Tiny Tim's experience, Carter's quickness and pinpoint passing skills have hurt the Knicks -- especially in transition. From the neck up, the 33-year-old Hardaway is as good as ever. He still directs the Heat offense to near-perfection, running the pick-and-roll with Alonzo Mourning and finding the open man. Against New York's stifling half-court defense, however, the Heat need transition baskets to have any chance. "I can see places I want to go, but I can't get there," Hardaway admits. "So I'm settling for jump shots or settling for pump fakes." Hardaway, a free agent after the season, has remained upbeat. He's usually one of the first off the bench to congratulate Heat teammates and has heaped praise on Carter. As he was leaving practice on Saturday, Hardaway even stopped and stayed an extra five minutes so reporters could ask him about Carter's game- winning shot the night before. Underneath it all, however, teammates say Hardaway is hurting more than he lets on. "Knowing Tim, he's probably going through hell," forward P.J. Brown said. "He's not showing it, but we know it's killing him. He's such a competitor. He wants to be out there contributing." A few feet away, Hardaway sat at his locker stall, eyes downcast, calmly answering questions for a throng of reporters. "We'll see," he said, when asked if he was done for the series. Hard as it is to fathom, the Heat might be better without him.
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